[updated] APPROXIMATE Cost of building an 8x12 shed or buying one

[Taylor]

mines 8x10 and it costed us $500 to build it ourselves. we used sawmill lumber and 2x4's from lowe's and be bought windows and bought 3D shingles to go on it. it is 8ft tall in the front and slants to 6 ft in the back. in all it costed us $500 smackers, but it was worth it, my hens love it! thats all that matters.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

And I really wanted to know APPROXIMATELY how much a shed would cost to build (no frills).

I bought $600 worth of material for this 8 X 12 that only needed 3 walls because it's an extension of my older coop :

 

[AlienChick]

So we decided to just go ahead and build our own coop instead of buying a shed.

It's 8 x 12 and so far it's cost us just over $700 with everything purchased from Lowes.
(The 8 x 12 sheds from Lowes cost about $1400 and up; so we figured we got our coop for 1/2 price!)

We have the walls up (except for the front wall and front door). Used pre-primed plywood siding for the walls.

We only have one of the three windows installed (will also install some screened openings on hinges; as well as vents around the top).

I painted the floor with some semi-gloss paint ($5 from the local paint store's ooops bin).
I was gonna use vinyl, but it was $52 from the scrap bin at Lowes.
And I also didn't want to have to deal with the "yuck" that forms underneath the vinyl over time.

We're using the corrugated roofing panels for the roof.

We installed external nestboxes that will have hinged lids for easy access.

We've never built anything before, so we're kinda proud of building our first home . . . even if it is just for the chickens!

Here are a few photos of our project (unfinished).

We bought three of these screened "basement windows" from Lowes for $19 each.

Found the door at Habitat restore for $15.
I was specifically looking for a door with a window.

 

[Chicklette 1]

I am very envious of all of you who still have the energy ability, and help to build your own coops. You get exactly what you want and at a lower price plus the satisfaction of having built it yourself. However there are some of us who do not have husbands or relatives or friends that will help us build a coop! At my age, I cannot lift building materials, etc. and neither can my husband so we are forced to buy at least the main part of the building already finished and then I am lucky enough to have one man on our farm who will do some carpentry on the inside but he does not have enough time to build me a whole coop. You all take such pride in your great coops and rightly so. What I can do at least is some decoration so I am painting the inside of my 8X12 shed and having fun with it. Maybe I will post a photo when I am finished. I figured it didn't have to be too good and the chickens won't laugh at me!!

 

[AlienChick]

Yes, Chicklette.

Do please post photos!!

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
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I am in a similar position Chicklette, I dont have a hubby or a handiman. I am still puzzling on how to get a roof on the coop I want to build... Every three days I go up to my house in the desert to feed my horse and do a little more. In the end I will probably do a Silver tarp over the whole thing. So I subscribe and lurk and learn on each building thread and contribute when I can offer anything helpful.

 

[sammin71]

i am in the process of building my coop which is 8x12 and i have spent 900 and still have to buy roofing. Plus i have 2 windows that i didnt buy they were given to me so if you use plywood your going to have no less than 1200 in your coop

 

[mcf3kids]

It is looking really nice! I LOVE that you were able to find that door! What a score there! The external nest boxes look great as well. We are building our coop and go back and forth internal or external boxes - looking forward to watching more of your progress!

 

[AlienChick]

I think putting the door up was the most difficult part of this building project.

I think my little $15 door from the Habitat re-store looks quite nice.

I just painted it with some of the red oops paint from Lowes. It's just a coincidence that it happens to match the roof.

We ended up buying two more windows for $19 each from Lowes.

I wanted the nestboxes to open out instead of up, so I could just leave them open if I'm doing maintenance or egg collecting.

I think we're about at the $900 mark now with this project.

It's still a far cry from the $1400 pre-made 8x12 shed (that I would still have to modify), so I'm not complaining.

 

[BarefootMom]

we in the process of building a 8x8 coop...

so far we have spent around $350 on just lumber and screws (from Lowes and local lumberyards). We aren't putting a floor in it and the tin we already had (it doesn't match, but who really cares right?)

depending on where you get your lumber and how fancy you want it to be, I would say you could build a 8x12 for around $500. another great place to look for building materials is re-home stores. We have a habitiat for humanity re-home store in Springfield, and it is awesome. I have found half sheets of plywood and such there and they have tons of windows.